NEGAUNEE, Mich. (WZMQ) – Lucy Hill in Negaunee is North America’s only Natural Track Luge run. With colder temperatures, this season, 2025 is off to a great start
It’s called Naturbahn, or Natural Track Luge. It differs from Olympic or Artificial Luge in that it requires more strength, agility, and steering than the artificial track. Veteran luger Henry Anderson explains the difference.
“For turning in artificial luge, you’re basically just pushing with your feet and leaning so it’s a lot smaller, finer adjustments down the track, and the times are much closer together. When we’re steering, we are pulling the rain, pushing with our feet, leaning out, all that all at once, so we’re able to steer much sharper than them, and that’s how we get through a lot of these super tight hairpin turns here,” said Anderson.
With last season’s warm weather behind us, conditions are now perfect for creating an ideal sliding surface
“Thankfully, with this cold weather, this is perfect weather for us to be able to get the track back in better shape, icing it to make it nice and fast right now,” said Matthews.
“Everything’s looking good. We’re making better progress than we have been, and the last season was not the greatest, so it’s a lot better,” said coach, Zane Farnsworth,
As instructor Zane Farnsworth points out, it’s fairly easy to learn, and everyone who signs up receives lessons, and the use of a helmet, and special shoes.
“I think a lot of times, people get it after their first or second run, and it’s everybody has a blast overall,” said Farnsworth.
If you are thinking about trying luge out for yourself, remember it can be a workout.
“It’s a full-body workout on the way down. And we also carry our slides up the track, and they’re quite heavy. So yeah, after a long day of sliding, you’re always exhausted,” said Anderson.
Lucy Hill offers public Luging also called Sliding on Friday evenings from 6-9 pm and on Saturdays from 11 am until 2 pm until mid-March. For information on reservations and pricing, please visit upluge.org
